Pippin and Laddie Aspinall go to Rainbow Bridge

Pippin was the queen of the house the first day she arrived and no matter who else was there or what other dog came in the door (foster or to live) she told them what to do and they did it. And her people did too!

She was so smart one time another dog had a bone in the living room and she ran into the kitchen, started barking madly, got the other dog to come see what was so exciting and slipped back to get the bone. She was purebred beagle, she knew how to hunt down the rabbits, she could escape in a heartbeat and she only wanted to be as close to me as possible. Unless Jeff was home; then she wanted both of us. We adopted her are 13 months of age and to me she was what a beagle should be. In fact, she looked so much like the beagle I had growing up, most people couldn’t tell the two dogs apart.

In 2006 we lost Buddy and my grandson was born. When I came home after helping care for the newborn, I called BREW and they said, “We have a dog for you!” and thus Laddie the collie, beagle and who-knows-what-else-mutt came to live in Pippin’s house.

He was a lover and he loved everyone. He thought he should crawl in your lap and he just wanted attention, which of course put Pippin’s nose out of joint, but then we were all together and life was grand. We hiked with DC Beagles and went to Beagle Fest. We gathered with Virginia dog groups and often just covered miles and miles of the trails on the Manassas National Park and made it around Burke Lake in record time.

Last winter Laddie had more trouble with his hindquarters and arthritis and so we slowed down on our walks. We went from 4 or 5 miles to ½ a mile at most. Pippin was a bit slower too, but when she got sick in June I never thought she’d be gone by June 30. And yet she was. It was liver cancer, but she was only really in pain for a few weeks. Laddie slowly became less able to walk and eventually his hind legs turned out from under him. So, I 20 October I hugged him and cried and sobbed and told him to look for Pippin and Buddy and let him go, just as I had only a few months before for Pippin.

They were the most wonderful dogs you could ever have. They never gave a growl or a nip or anything nasty to my two grandsons who started crawling over them at 6 months of age. The barked when something was wrong and sounded so big and rough, but they were the sweetest dogs you could ever meet. They introduced a lot of little children to the softness and kisses of a dog.

Oh my God, I miss them. But, they are in a better place and one day there WILL be two more dogs in my house, probably telling me once again what to do.

6 Responses

Thankfully the joy we receive from our dogs over the years is so much greater than the pain we feel from losing them. And, as the pain eases, and we miss the joy, we invite another into our lives. Very sorry for your loss, thank you for sharing. I appreciate my little guy (a Brew Beagle) just a bit more tonight.

I am so sorry for your loss. I just lost Duke, at a mere 10.5 yrs old, unexpectedly to spleen cancer. He was so pretty and pranced like prince. He had been by my side all the time, had all these funny little things that made you happy and love him instantly, plus he was simply perfect. Our Dora is not the same since he left us, and well, neither am I. I miss walking, talking, petting and play with him and I understand how you must feel. My condolences, Mindy.